Chancellor Search Enters Final Stages

Posted on Aug. 7, 2024

The UNC Board of Trustees sent Aug. 5 a list of candidates for chancellor to UNC System President Peter Hans ’91, who will interview the individuals and present one to the Board of Governors for approval.

It’s not clear when Hans will complete the interviews and send his choice to the Board of Governors.

The Board of Trustees received the names of the candidates from the chancellor’s search advisory committee, the 13-member panel that has met numerous times since March and has interviewed several applicants. Anita Brown-Graham ’91 (JD), the Gladys Hall Coates Distinguished Professor of Public Law and Government and associate dean for strategic initiatives at the UNC School of Government, served as a special adviser to the committee. Brown-Graham is a GAA Faculty Service Award recipient.

The UNC System requires the board to submit no fewer than three candidates, in unranked order, for consideration. Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts has repeatedly declined to say if he was pursuing the position. Some believe he has the inside track to be the next chancellor, if he wants it, because Hans appointed him as interim, he has served in that role for most of this year and is a former member of the Board of Governors.

Cristy Page ’96 (’02 MPH, ’02 MD) — executive dean of the School of Medicine, chief academic officer of UNC Health and a tenured professor in the medical school’s department of family medicine — chaired the search committee to find a successor to former Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz, who resigned in January to become president of Michigan State University.

“When I was asked to serve as chair of this committee, I knew I was taking on a large task that would make a great impact on the future of our University,” Page told the Board of Trustees. “Over the course of the last six months, we have heard from many constituents around campus — students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, community members, so many people who love Carolina — about what they want to see in our next chancellor and what is important to them.”

Other search advisory committee members included Board of Trustees Chair John Preyer ’90, Board of Governors Vice Chair Kellie Hunt Blue, immediate past BOG Chair Randy Ramsey, Hans, Carolina Alumni President Veronica Mora Flaspoehler ’08, and Beth Moracco ’92 MPH (’99 PhD), chair of the faculty at UNC.

The search committee held listening sessions, informal conversations and conducted an online survey that garnered more than 2,700 responses, Page said. The passion and love individuals have for Carolina emerged as a prevailing theme throughout the survey, as well as “the drive that everyone has” for Carolina to excel, she said.

Search committee members took their duties seriously and respected each other’s perspectives throughout the process, Page told the trustees. She didn’t disclose the number of candidates she provided to the board and said they were “impressive individuals who have excelled in their fields.” Page also said the candidates are from diverse backgrounds, are “excited and enthusiastic about the prospect of taking our University to the next phase” and “have thoughtful ideas about how to continue and expand on Carolina’s unparalleled legacy.”

— Laurie D. Willis ’86